Celebrating 20 Years Of ‘Nevermind’ With…THIS!

Next month is the 20th anniversary of Nirvana’s globe-changing ‘Nevermind’ album. That’s 20 years since hair metal lost its rebel cool, 20 years of alt-rock rule, and 20 years of people jumping into swimming pools with waterproof cameras to pretend to be the baby in the album cover.

There are lots of plans to celebrate this musical milestone, including a special exhibition at London’s Loading Bay Gallery, promising “an abundance of professional photographs and band memorabilia.”

Which is all very well and good, but we British have already made our tribute to Kurt Cobain and his towering muse. We have already bent the knee and proffered a kiss to his papal ring.

If this live recording of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Take That does not count as a fulsome sacrifice to the grunge gods – at times it is as if music itself has died – then I don’t know what does:

Note: This was filmed on the band’s final tour before they split up in 1995, and frankly it shows. Instrumental prowess is not Take That’s forte. It’s not even their twente. And Gary Barlow in leather trousers, ripping his T-shirt off like Iggy Pop the prefect, is just about the wrongest thing ever seen on the British stage. There again, there’s a certain grisly fascination to the whole affair. Once seen, never forgotten.

Fraser McAlpine

Fraser has been writing and broadcasting about music and popular culture for over 15 years, first at the Top of the Pops website, and most recently for the NME, Guardian and MSN. He also wrote BBC Radio 1's Chart Blog and reviews albums for BBC Radio 2.
He is Anglophenia's current resident Brit, blogging about British slang and running around the Mall taking snaps of the crowd at the Royal Wedding, as well as reigniting a childhood passion for classic Doctor Who and cramming as much music in as he can manage.
Fraser invites you to join him on Twitter: @csi_popmusic

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